The annual general meeting was dominated by issues surrounding the credit derivatives market. "This was the year of credit," said Robert McWilliam, head of counterparty exposure management at ABN AMRO in London, adding, "whether it was on collateral, non-performing loans in Japan, CLO transfers or credit derivatives, credit-related issues came up in nearly every session."
Participants stressed the dramatic growth in credit derivatives and the approaching implementation, on May 6, of the 2003 credit derivatives definitions. Exemplifying the growing number of end users tapping this market, Bank of China said it is now studying investing in products such as synthetic collateralized debt obligations.
